


Photograph

by merelypassingtime



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, IronStrange, M/M, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 18:38:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15612483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelypassingtime/pseuds/merelypassingtime
Summary: You got some kinda hold on meYou're all wrapped up in mysterySo wild so free and far from meYou're all I want, my fantasy





	Photograph

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to both my indispensable beta no-reason-at-all and my friend Grandeur_Raconteur for looking this over! I owe you both so much. :)

“Okay, we should be safe here for a while,” Stephen said, looking around the dusty, disused living room they now stood in as if he could see their foes tracking them. For all Tony knew, he could.

“And where is here exactly?” Tony asked. He had grown accustomed to large jumps in geographic location since he started dating a master of the mystic arts, but this room, with its busy floral wallpaper and cozy, well worn furniture was nothing like the usual places Stephen’s magic took them.

“Nebraska,” was the terse reply.

“Wow, that’s pretty random. But you’re right, no one's gonna look for anything interesting in Nebraska.”

“Yeah,” Stephen said with a small smile. “If there’s a bright center to the universe, you’re in the state it is furthest from.”

Tony looked at him with incredulity until Stephen finally demanded, “What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Tony said with a dismissive wave of his hands. “I just never thought you’d be a Star Wars guy; you look like more of a Trekkie to me.”

“You _can_ love both.”

Tony grinned, before turning it into an exaggerated leer. “Nerds are so fucking hot. I don’t think I have ever wanted you more than I do right now.”

“I hardly think this is the time.”

“I dunno. You said we lost them, and this place looks pretty safe. Unless you think the people who live here are going to be back soon. That’d be awkward.”

Distractedly, Stephen said, “Oh, no. No one lives here anymore.”

“Well, that’s handy. And I’m supposed to believe that you just happened to know of an empty house in Nebraska?”

“Yup,” Stephen said, his mind already clearly turning away from the present and back to their pursuers.

Tony let out an unconvinced hum and started looking more closely around the room while Stephen did whatever he was doing with glowing runes and vague hand gestures. He didn’t have to look far, proudly displayed all across the mantle were a plethora of family photos, many featuring a young but still clearly recognizable Stephen; Tony would know those cheekbones anywhere.

“This is your house!” Tony accused. “You grew up here.” 

Not looking up from his spell, Stephen said, sarcasm dripping from every word, “My, aren’t we astute today? Yes, now shut up and let me concentrate.”

“Fine, fine, oh great and powerful Oz. Do what you need to do,” Tony said, unfazed. 

Stephen didn’t bother with an acknowledgement, already lost in his working. 

Tony was actually pleased for the chance to poke though some of Stephen’s past unsupervised. He’d understood why Stephen never talked much about his childhood above and beyond the bare-bones summary he’d given Tony on one particularly morose night; there were certainly bits of his own early life Tony was in no hurry to revisit himself. Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious. 

He easily passed a few minutes, puttering around the living room, poking through framed photos and taking pictures of the more adorable young Stephens. 

After setting a shot of a sullen, braces bedecked Stephen as his lock screen, he decided to wander upstairs, sure that Stephen’s room would provide a wealth of blackmail material.

A quick look reassured him that Stephen was still engrossed in his spellwork. He was chanting quietly, a dozen or so brightly glowing yellow balls orbiting around him. Tony had no idea what the spell was for, but it clearly gave him the opportunity he wanted to sneak upstairs.

In the middle of the left hand hallway was a door helpfully labeled ‘Stephen’ in blocky crayon letters, long faded with age. Opening the door, Tony was initially disappointed by the dull room he found, until his gaze glanced off a collection of posters taped to the wall above the narrow bed.

Tony called loudly down the stairs, “Stephen?”

Silence was his only answer, so he tried again. “Stephen, why is there a huge shrine to me in your bedroom?”

A crash from downstairs and a muttered curse preceded the sudden appearance of an embarrassed looking Stephen beside him, the Coak still bellowing around him, even as it firmly pulled the door into the room closed.

“That’s not going to change what I saw, Strange. You have a shrine to me in there.”

“It’s not a shrine; it’s just a few pictures,” Stephen said defensively.

“Of me.”

“Yes, you. You have to know lots of kids admired the much publicized wonder boy of our age.”

“Maybe, but not enough to hang so many posters and magazine covers of my face. I’m a bit surprised you don’t have a lock of my hair in there, too.”

“Well, of course not! That’s at home.”

Tony turned his head quickly towards Stephen, an equal mix of shock and suspicion on his face. “What? Why do you have a lock of my hair?!” 

With a smug smile Stephen said, “Nevermind. The point is that, yes, I admit I have a couple of pictures of you I hung up when I was a teen.”

“Ones that you wanted right over your bed?”

“Yes. They were there to inspire me to greatness in the morning.”

“Oh. I bet they inspired you to other things at night too.”

“Is there any limit to your ego? Science needs to know.”

“That’s not a denial.”

“You’re impossible.”

“And you’re blushing, Doctor. What did you used to think about laying there under all those posters of me?”

When Stephen only grew more red and stuttered in reply, Tony’s grin grew. He leaned forward to pin the taller man to the closed door, ignoring the Cloak’s angry flapping as it worked itself free and flew back downstairs. “Would you like to try out some of those fantasies right now?” he purred. “‘Cause I’d love to make that happen for you.”

The passionate kiss Stephen gave him was all the confirmation Tony needed.

It turned out young Stephen had a very vivid and very dirty imagination. Tony wasn’t surprised; present day Stephen still did.

**Author's Note:**

> Podfic available: https://soundcloud.com/meredith-allan/photograph


End file.
